There is this prevailing narrative – and a lot of it is being pushed by the fossil fuel industry and their enablers – that climate action is too difficult, it’s too expensive
The thing is, adequately addressing the climate crisis is going to be very difficult and expensive. We should do it anyway, because if we don’t the consequences are likely to be severe, but I don’t think we should lie to people and say it’s going to be cheap and easy. This is going to be hard. Really hard. This is our moonshot, only many times more difficult. But that’s exactly why we should do it.
Somewhere along the line, we turned into a country that is afraid of doing anything too difficult. We used to do things because they were difficult, now we shy away from anything that’s even remotely challenging. Do people remember JFK’s ‘We Choose To Go To The Moon’ speech?
We choose to go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win
What happened to us? I think I answered my own question: we need leaders who can inspire people to take on incredible challenges. We need someone who will stand up in front of the American people and say, “yes, addressing climate change is going to be hard, and that’s exactly why we are going to do it! We can do it, we must do it, we will do it.”
we need leaders who can inspire people to take on incredible challenges
great man theory BS. In the 60s we had the profits from postwar economic expansion and a propaganda war/arms race to win against the Soviets. Now we have no such profits, and in fact profits are shrinking across the board, so our society’s major institutions are clinging to them as tightly as possible.
There are, but the rate of their increase declines year over year, causing firms to cling to them with ever more self-sabotaging tactics. Then there’s a crisis, and a collapse - there’s a whole book about this, I highly recommend it.
The thing is, adequately addressing the climate crisis is going to be very difficult and expensive. We should do it anyway, because if we don’t the consequences are likely to be severe, but I don’t think we should lie to people and say it’s going to be cheap and easy. This is going to be hard. Really hard. This is our moonshot, only many times more difficult. But that’s exactly why we should do it.
Somewhere along the line, we turned into a country that is afraid of doing anything too difficult. We used to do things because they were difficult, now we shy away from anything that’s even remotely challenging. Do people remember JFK’s ‘We Choose To Go To The Moon’ speech?
What happened to us? I think I answered my own question: we need leaders who can inspire people to take on incredible challenges. We need someone who will stand up in front of the American people and say, “yes, addressing climate change is going to be hard, and that’s exactly why we are going to do it! We can do it, we must do it, we will do it.”
great man theory BS. In the 60s we had the profits from postwar economic expansion and a propaganda war/arms race to win against the Soviets. Now we have no such profits, and in fact profits are shrinking across the board, so our society’s major institutions are clinging to them as tightly as possible.
There are tons of profits. They are just in the hands of people like Musk/Bezos.
There are, but the rate of their increase declines year over year, causing firms to cling to them with ever more self-sabotaging tactics. Then there’s a crisis, and a collapse - there’s a whole book about this, I highly recommend it.
Again, just not true. From before the pandemic (2019) to now, profits have increased by about 25 percent.
“rate of profit” is not the same thing as “profit”. You would know this if you read the book.